Is Canada becoming the Next South Africa?

Canadian Universities Forum (discussion group)

Subject: Is Canada becoming the Next South Africa?

Monday, May 26, 2008

OTTAWA - There is a large and growing gap between Canadians when it comes to who has a university degree, with visible minorities far more likely to have a university education than white Canadians, according to a new study.

The analysis of the 2006 census results by Jack Jedwab, executive director of the Association for Canadian Studies, found a 20-point gap between visible minority and white Canadians aged 35-44 years old when it comes to university education

In fact, white Canadians - particularly white males - were among the groups least likely to have a university degree, certificate or diploma.

"That was the biggest surprise to me," Jedwab admitted.

The group with the highest proportion of university-educated people were Korean Canadians, where 74.7 per cent of respondents in the age group analyzed had a university degree. Filipino and Chinese Canadians were in second and third place with about 58.6 and 58.4 per cent of their community holding university degrees.

Arab Canadians weren?t far behind with university graduates making up 51.6 per cent of the population. The study found 48.5 per cent of Japanese Canadians had graduated university followed by 47.8 per cent of West Asians and 47.4 per cent of South Asians.

The levels of university education were significantly lower for Latin Americans, 33 per cent of whom had a degree, and for the black community, where 30.1 per cent had completed university.

However, the groups that were the least likely to have a university degree were white Canadians, only 25.9 per cent of whom had graduated university, and those from Southeast Asia where only 22 per cent had a degree.

Jedwab says one of the key reasons underlying the results is Canada?s immigration policy, which gives preference to those with university educations when it comes to immigrating to Canada.

According to Statistics Canada, 51 per cent of people who immigrated to Canada between 2001 and 2006 had university degrees - much higher than the proportion of 20 per cent of university degree holders among the Canadian-born population or the 28 per cent among immigrants who arrived prior to 2001.

The result is that the overall level of university degree holders in Canada has risen.

Those with university educations are in turn often more likely to push their own children towards university, said Jedwab.

"The results may seem counterintuitive to some as traditionally it is believed that immigrants who lacked some of the advantages of access to higher education widely encouraged their children to obtain it."

But while Canadians from visible minorities have higher levels of education on average than those who aren?t from a visible minority, several of Jedwab?s previous studies have shown that their higher education levels don?t always translate into better employment or better income levels. In many cases, Canadians from visible minorities with university degrees earn a fraction of what their white counterparts earn and have lower employment levels.

If those trends continue, it could become a problem, Jedwab warned.

"It?s not a good recipe for cohesion when you have a very educated population that is suffering disproportionately higher rates of unemployment and a less educated population that?s not encountering the same kind of employment challenges."

Jedwab said it also raise significant questions for universities.

"That risks creating the impression that there is less of a value in university education."

Hugh O?Heron, a senior policy analyst with the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, said he wasn?t surprised the gap between visible minorities and other Canadians is large and getting larger, given the emphasis in Canada?s immigration policy on recruiting those with university degrees.

O?Heron said some countries, like Korea, have invested heavily in educating their population.

However, O?Heron said more recent immigrants to Canada, while more educated, are coming from countries that are more different from Canada than in the past, meaning it is taking longer for them to integrate into Canadian society and realize the value of their university degrees.

Montreal Gazette

[07-06-2008,08:51]Anonymous

(in reply to: Is Canada becoming the Next South Africa?)Canada piece of shit!

Is this 1908 or 2008? Damn racist pigs!

[07-06-2008,18:48]Anonymous

(in reply to: Is Canada becoming the Next South Africa?)Feel free to go back to whatever country you came from.

[24-06-2008,06:58]Spungo

(in reply to: Is Canada becoming the Next South Africa?)Canada belongs to the First Nations People!